Erigaisi storms into semifinals, Praggnanandhaa bows out of title race

Las Vegas: Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi defeated Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Abdusattorov to storm into the semifinals but R Praggnanandhaa bowed out of the title race after losing to USA's Fabiano Caruana at the USD 750,000 Freestyle Grand Slam Tour here.

Arjun prevailed over Abdusattorov 1.5-0.5 while Praggnanandhaa lost an intense battle 3-4 against Caruana.

The American duo of Levon Aronian and Hans Moke Niemann were the other winners in the quarterfinal stage, defeating compatriot Hikaru Nakamura and Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan respectively.

While Aronian won by a 2.5-1.5 margin over four games, Niemann took longer in beating Sindarov 4-2.

In the semifinals, Arjun will take on Aronian while Niemann will meet Caruana.

In the lower bracket, world number one Magnus Carlslen regained his winning touch and ousted Vidit Gujrathi 2-0. American Wesley So won 1.5-0.5 against compatriot Samuel Sevian while Leinier Dominguez Perez had a smooth 1.5-0.5 victory over Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan.

Vincent Keymer of Germany, the winner of the first leg, defeated Robson Ray, also from America, by 2.5-1.5 margin.

Arjun was a class act in both games and enjoyed the advantage from the word go. Playing white in the second game the Indian won a rook for a Bishop early, and very soon, it did not look like a Freestyle game, as Arjun simply overpowered Abdusattorov with his extra material.

Earlier in the first game too, Arjun enjoyed an advantage after the opening, but some unforced errors in the later part of the game allowed the Uzbek to get a half point.

Praggnanandhaa and Caruana were involved in as many as seven decisive games and the Indian was in lead on three occasions. Praggnanandhaa won the first, lost the second and the story continued till the sixth, until Caruana pulled away before winning the decisive seventh game.

It is not the end of the road for Praggnanandhaa though as he now moves to the lower bracket with seven other players for another set of knockout games.

Results quarterfinals: Arjun Erigaisi (Ind) beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb) 1.5-0.5; R Praggnanandhaa (Ind) lost to Fabiano Caruana (Usa) 3-4; Levon Aronian (Usa) beat Hikarru Nakamura (Usa) 2.5-1.5; Hans Moke Niemann (Usa) beat Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb) 4-2.

Lower bracket: Lenier Dominguez Perez (Usa) beat Bibisara Assaubuyeva (Kaz) 1.5-0.5; Magnus Carlsen (Nor) beat Vidit Gujrathi (Ind) 2-0; Wesley So (Usa) beat Samuel Sevian (Usa) 1.5-0.5; Vincent Keymer (Ger) beat Robson Ray 2.5-1.5.